12.15.01
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2001, 6 p.m. CSTSTATUS REPORT: STS-108-21
STS-108 MISSION CONTROL CENTER STATUS REPORT #21
After eight days together, Endeavour and the International Space
Station parted ways today, the shuttle leaving behind a new station
crew and ferrying home a veteran station crew.
Endeavour undocked from the station at 11:28 a.m. CST as the
spacecraft flew 240 statute miles above the Indian Ocean off the
Australian coast. Pilot Mark Kelly flew Endeavour through a
half-circle of the station before firing jets to leave the vicinity.
Before undocking, Endeavour's jets were fired in a series of small
pulses beginning at 8:55 a.m. CST to raise the altitude of the
station about three quarters of a mile. The maneuver ensures the
station will fly well clear of an old Russian rocket body that had
been predicted to potentially pass close to the complex later this
weekend. The final small reboost by the shuttle, coupled with three
larger reboosts done earlier in the week, means the station was
raised a total of more than nine statute miles by Endeavour.
The new station crew, Expedition Four Commander Yury Onufrienko and
Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz, said goodbye to
Endeavour's crew and the departing Expedition Three crew and closed
hatches between the spacecraft at 7:16 a.m. CST. Now en route home,
Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson, Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov
and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin completed 117 days as the primary
station crew and spent 125 days aboard the station overall. When
Endeavour lands on Monday, they will have spent a total of 129 days
in space.
The crew members aboard Endeavour had several hours off duty after
departing the station, a break from a very busy pace moving tons of
supplies between the shuttle and station during the past week.
Sunday's activities will focus on checking out systems used during
descent and making preparations for a landing on Monday. Endeavour is
set to land at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, about 11:55 a.m. CST
Monday. The weather forecast predicts generally acceptable conditions
except for a chance of rain showers in the vicinity of the landing
site.
Flight controllers determined today that all three Inertial
Measurement Units on Endeavour, the primary navigation systems for
the shuttle, would be usable for landing. One of the three units had
been taken off line two days ago due to a brief fault. However, the
unit has worked well since that time. Even if the problem were to
recur, it would not affect Endeavour's entry and landing since the
shuttle can operate with only one such unit if necessary.
Endeavour's crew will begin a sleep period at 7:19 p.m. CST and awaken
at 3:19 a.m. CST Sunday. The Johnson Space Center newsroom will open
at 5 a.m. CST Sunday, and the next Mission Control status report will
be issued at about 6 a.m. CST Sunday or as events warrant.
-end-